The Ministry of Education has launched a diploma programme in effective school leadership that will see about 2,000 managers from 1,322 different schools trained by 2021.

The programme was launched on Sunday in Rubavu District by the Minister of State in charge of primary and secondary education, Dr Isaac Munyakazi, who stressed the need for school leaders to contribute actively towards the transformation of the country into a knowledge-based economy.

"The role of a teacher can only be as important as we may expect when we have good school leaders who understand the vision of our country where we say that Rwanda is a country which will soon become a knowledge-based economy,” he said.

Munyakazi said that effective school leadership will help curb malpractices and lapses which are still prevalent in most schools.

"We need school leaders to be change agents, we cannot realise our vision as a nation without positioning schools as the foundation of this change. School leaders therefore have a very big role in this,” said the minister.

The programme is being implemented with support of VVOB – Education for Development, a Belgian organisation.

Other partners are Rwanda Education Board and the University of Rwanda (College of Education), who are training head teachers and deputy head teachers from 17 districts in leadership, pedagogy and the implementation of the newly developed competency-based curriculum.

Jef Peeraer, the programme manager at VVOB – Education for Development, told The New Times that they look forward to continued partnership with the Government of Rwanda to ensure the remaining districts are covered.

According to officials, the programme, which will be completed in 2021, is expected to cost $10 million.

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